Times 'expecting a really bad fourth quarter'

Los Angeles Times veteran pressman and blogger Ed Padgett sat down with The Frying Pan, the new blog from the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, and said the pressroom has been told the paper's bosses are "expecting a really bad fourth quarter." That would certainly fit with the bad economic vibes felt across California, and goes along with the chatter that Times suits are reeling from how little movie advertising is coming their way. If the ad forecast for fall is so bad, it could also explain why other print newsrooms have slowed hiring (or worse.) For what it's worth, Padgett said a senior vice president told the pressroom "we’ve got three years more of printing the hard copy Times before they shut it down. Our plant manager says five years." Times spokeswoman Nancy Sullivan replied that there are no current plans to stop printing on paper.

Add Padgett: In the piece, he describes how layoffs have reduced membership in the pressroom union that workers voted in four years ago. A decertification vote failed in June, he said, while more than 50 grievances remain against the company. You might remember, he was suspended and threatened with firing a year ago, then reinstated.